Decorating

January 09, 2018

When I started my Farm Chicks dream in 2002, we were living in an small old schoolhouse at the base of Mt. Spokane and all of my work was done from the sofa and kitchen table. After we built our first home, the laundry room doubled as my office at first, shared with the folding counter and eventually we carved out a little space in a nook the size of a closet. Colin would always joke and call it "Farm Chicks World Headquarters" because it was so tiny. I loved that space and made it really cute but I did start to dream a bit about having my "work" away from the living areas of our home, so that I wouldn't think about work when I was with my family. When we built our farmhouse, we decided to build an office for me that was separate from the house. At first, we continued to call it World Headquarters but after a while it sounded kind of weird to us because the new space is much larger and the joke just sort of fizzled out and the name fell away. My family simply calls it my office these days.

I like for my office to be very clean and free of clutter, to keep my mind clear and not distracted in any way. I remember when I shared a visit to Country Living Magazine headquarters a couple of years ago and some readers were surprised to see that the offices weren't decorated with a lot of clutter and were very clean and bright. When you're always coming up with new projects, material, and content, it's really wonderful to work in a space that's clutter free!

Dreams continue to be formed and manifested in this special space and I'm so thankful for the area to build large projects (like the installations for The Farm Chicks Fair), the natural light that always fills the space (even on the gloomiest of winter days), and the quiet that inspires me and allows me to form creative thoughts and plans.

December 18, 2017

A few years ago, my friend Tiffany and I visited New York City during the holidays. It’s such a beautiful time of the year to visit, with the charm of the urban tree lots, Union Square Holiday Market (which is a U.S. version of Europe's Christmas markets and really great), and decorations all around. I especially love the old office buildings with their gilded names on their front doors and it clicked in a little inspiration for me. Each Christmas since, I’ve been painting a little gilded Christmas message on our pantry door for an extra bit of cheer.

Here’s how to create your own gilded window. Start with printing out your message on thick cardstock paper. I like using a simple font that looks like what you’d see on the old office doors. Arial Bold works nicely.

Then cut out the letters with an X-acto knife, saving the center of the O’s and cutting those out next. (I use this handy Fiskar cutting mat from JoAnn's for all of the cutting).

Next, tape the stencil on the back side of the window. (The window is smooth on the back side of my pantry door. If it was rippled on both sides, it wouldn’t work because you need a smooth surface to work on.) Although I’ve used clear tape here, painter’s tape works best because it’s easily removed.

Next I add tape to the O Centers and stick them on the window:

Now it’s time to prepare the painting supplies:

Paper Plate

Metallic Gold Washable Craft Paint of your choice. (The key is using metallic paint, not just gold colored, to make it look gilded).

Sponge Stenciling Tool

Squeeze a little bit of the paint on the plate and gently dab your sponge into the paint:

Then carefully dab dab dab dab the paint onto the cut-out openings of the stencil. You don’t want to swipe at any time. Only straight dabs.

Continue until you have close to full coverage, checking the front of the window periodically to watch your progress. You don’t want to overdo it, and you don’t want complete coverage. By leaving slight gaps, it has a slightly worn, aged look:

Once you’re satisfied with your paint job, carefully remove your stencil and pull it straight back, making sure not to touch or smudge your paint if it’s still wet. Remove any center stencil pieces as well. (In my case, the O centers). It’s as easy as that!

November 05, 2017

With Halloween behind us, you might think about throwing out your pumpkins and squash, but there's still a lot of decorating you can do with them. A fun and simple use of the minis is to make tiny little arrangements. To get started, choose your pumpkin:

Then cut out the top, remove it, and scoop out all the seeds:

Then, fill it with a little water and the greenery or flowers of your choice:

Leaves make pretty filler too:

Tip: If you have a hard time getting the filler to stay in place, use a little rubber band to secure the bundle together before you place it in the pumpkin and it will stay nicely:

October 31, 2017

The costs of decorating your home for any holiday season can really add up and finding pieces that can work for more than one holiday is always helpful. Cloth napkins are a great place to start because they are a small item with a big impact.

Consider plaid. There are so many cool combinations that you can make them work from October through December. For example, the red in these napkins is more of a rusty red, with the yellows, browns, and greens of autumn which you can find in squash, florals, and foliage widely available in October and November and then of course, they're easily integrated into your December table. Today, I'm focusing on showing how you can use them in October and November.

To further cut costs, visit the fabric store or a thrift shop, look for a plaid that you love and make the napkins yourself!

After Halloween, make sure to keep all your little pumpkins and squash for decorative purposes through November. They add such color and cheer to your home. And stay tuned for my next post that will show you how to make cute simple arrangements with your mini pumpkins!

October 18, 2016

There's really no more generous season than autumn and all the beauty and bounty it provides. A walk around our property yields red, orange, and yellow oak and maple leaves, crab apples, rosehips, and of course, pumpkins that I gather to decorate our home.

This year I thought it'd be fun to make a garland out of the leaves I'd gathered. To create it, I simply cut a length of twine the size that I wanted the garland and tied clumps of leaves along the twine, overlapping each bunch just a little each time. I had originally planned on bunching individual leaves but that proved to be way too time consuming so I used clippings of branches with clusters of leaves instead. That went much faster! The nice thing about twine is that it really blends in with the autumn foliage.

I draped the garland over a little table at our front door and secured it with some small pumpkins.

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Between posts on my website, I document my life on Instagram. You can follow along with me there.

When our boys were pretty young, we bought a new sofa and loveseat. They were bright white and slipcovered. I loved how they looked and yes, they got dirty, but about once every week or two, I'd throw the slipcovers in the washer and they'd be good as new. The problem was when company would visit. They'd see those white slipcovers and be intimidated. It's like they'd stiffen up and never really relax. Who wants that? Guests that are uncomfortable. So when we built our new home, I changed the slipcovers to a warmer tone. Oatmeal. And it was a really good choice. I've washed the covers once or twice in four years (because they don't show dirt), and our guests don't feel intimidated.

I pulled the cushions off, so you can see the slipcover base, and how much darker the actual covers are than traditional white:

Do I recommend white furniture? No, only because it's not welcoming. My recommendation: Just warm it up a bit and it's a perfect compromise.

January 13, 2015

A while back I purchased a wonderful old collection of unframed Audobon bird prints.

I knew immediately that I wanted to create a gallery wall with the collection. So, I began collecting inexpensive frames from estate, farm, yard sales, and thrift shops, to make it more affordable.

It took a long time, but it was worth it. After about a year, I had accumlated enough frames to get a good start. I laid out the collection, bit by bit, choosing which ones I'd be using. Because there are hundreds of prints, it was a slow process, but an enjoyable one. The prints are just so beautiful to work with.

After making my selections, I framed each one and then layed them out on the floor, creating a test-run gallery wall. It made it really easy to move the frames around until it seemed right.

The prints would be going on this wall in the living room. My plan was to move the piano across the room, from where the piano currently was, so the sofa would be facing the windows and view of Mount Spokane.

Before:

After:

Eventually, once I've collected more frames, I'll probably add to the wall. But for now, it's really made a warming difference to the room. We adopted the caribou seen high on the wall after our oldest son Cody discovered it at M&M Antiques in Monroe, Washington. It's a reminder of his Alaska roots and our time there. We named him Tutu, which means caribou in Inupiaq.

December 17, 2014

Garland doesn't need to be limited to staircases or doorways. In fact, it's an inexpensive way to add a festive touch to your home during the holidays.

I like to hang garland from my chandelier. I easily attach it by wrapping strips of dark green velcro strips around the garland and chandelier. You can find this special velcro in the holiday section of most stores.

December 12, 2014

My love of nature always manifests itself in the way I decorate our home for the holidays. This year, I've made the most of out a beautiful cedar garland I purchased from Costco. First up, was the table. I started the table festooning with a simple piece of fabric I had torn into the size I needed. I like the simple, frayed edge of handtorn fabric AND it's an easy no-sew way to go.

Next, I added an old table runner I had on hand, but a simple piece of fabric would work just as well. I say, use what you have.

Next, came the star of the show - the beautiful, multiple-use, inexpensive garland. Garlands have a tendenceny to curve a bit. Don't fight it, the curves are nice and make for nice little coves to add other natural elements.

For a fuller table covering, I added in some pepperberries and more greenery. The great thing about all of these elements are that they will stay vibrant in color through the holidays.